106668: Greeting Christians on the occasion of their festivals

What is the ruling on greeting Christians on the occasion of their festivals by saying Kul sanah wa antum tayyibeen (roughly equivalent to “many happy returns”), wishing them well and hoping that they will be good, i.e., that they will not annoy us with regard to our religion, and not with the aim of congratulating them on their shirk, as some shaykhs think?.

Praise be to Allaah.

What is forbidden with regard to
congratulating the Christians on the occasion of their festivals is
expressing joy to them, being overly polite and showing approval of their
actions, even if that is only expressed outwardly without feeling it
inwardly.

The prohibition concerns those who show any
kind of participation or approval, such as giving gifts, verbal greetings,
taking time off work, making food, going to places of leisure, and other
customs of celebration. Having any intention other than what is said (when
congratulating them) does not make it permissible. The outward appearance of
these actions is sufficient to say that it is prohibited.

It is well known that most of those who take
a lenient attitude towards such matters do not intend to join the Christians
in their shirk; rather what motivates them in some cases is showing
politeness, and in other cases it is shyness, but politeness with regard to
falsehood is not permissible; rather what is required is to denounce the
evil and strive to change it.

It is not permissible for the Muslims to
imitate them in any way that is unique to their festivals, whether it be
food, clothes, bathing, lighting fires or refraining from usual work or
worship, and so on. And it is not permissible to give a feast or to exchange
gifts or to sell things that help them to celebrate their festivals, or to
let children and others play the games that are played on their festivals,
or to adorn oneself or put up decorations.

In general, (Muslims) are not allowed to
single out the festivals of the kuffaar for any of these rituals or customs.
Rather the day of their festivals is just an ordinary day for the Muslims,
and they should not single it out for any activity that is part of what the
kuffaar do on these days.

As for what the Muslims do deliberately,
that was regarded as makrooh by a number of the earlier and later
generations. As for singling out (such days) for the things mentioned above,
there is no dispute concerning that among the scholars; in fact some of the
scholars are of the view that the one who does these things is a kaafir,
because it involves venerating the symbols of kufr. And some of them said
that the one who slaughters a sheep on the day of their festival, it is as
if he slaughtered a pig.

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas said: The one
who follows the tradition of non-Muslims and observes their Nawrooz and
Mahrajaan (festivals), and imitates them until he dies like that, will be
gathered with them on the Day of Resurrection.

Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab,
the Sahaabah and all the imams of the Muslims stipulated that they should
not celebrate their festivals openly in the lands of the Muslims; rather
they should do that privately in their houses.

One of the early generations said concerning
the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning): “And those who do not witness falsehood” [al-Furqaan 25:72]:
(This refers to) the festivals of the kuffaar; if that has to do with
witnessing them, and not actually doing anything, then how about doing
things that are unique to those festivals? It was narrated from the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in al-Musnad and
as-Sunan that he said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”
According to another version he said: “He is not one of us who imitates
others.” This is a jayyid isnaad. If this is the case with regard to
imitating them, and if this has to do with customs, then how about imitating
them in matters that are more serious than that? The majority of imams
regard it as makrooh, either in the sense of it being prohibited or in the
sense of it being discouraged, to eat meat that they slaughter at the time
of their festivals and sacrifices, and they include that under the heading
of that which is sacrificed for something other than Allah and that which
has been sacrificed on stone altars (for idols). Similarly they also forbade
helping them in their festivals by giving gifts or selling to them, and they
said: It is not permissible for the Muslims to sell to the Christians
anything for the purpose of their festivals, whether that be meat, blood or
garments; they should not hire out any mounts to them or help them with any
of their religious affairs, because that comes under the heading of
venerating their shirk and helping them in their kufr. Those in positions of
authority should forbid the Muslims to do that, because Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Help you one another in
Al‑Birr and At‑Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one
another in sin and transgression”[al-Maa’idah 5:2]. Moreover, it is not
permissible for the Muslim to help them in drinking alcohol by pressing the
juice and so on, so how about helping in that which is one of the symbols of
kufr?! If it is not permissible for him to help them himself, then how about
if he is the one who is actually doing that?! End quote.

In several answers on our website we have
discussed this matter and explained the reason for the prohibition. Please
see the answers to questions no. 782,
90222, and
50074